John Cornyn

John Cornyn III (/ˈkɔːrnɪn/ KOR-nin ; born February 2, 1952) is an American politician and former judge who is the senior United States senator for Texas , a seat he has held since 2002. He is a member of the Republican Party .

John Cornyn

Official portrait, 2017

United States Senator

from Texas

**Incumbent **

Assumed office
December 2, 2002

Serving with Ted Cruz

Preceded byPhil Gramm

49th Attorney General of Texas In office
January 13, 1999 – December 1, 2002GovernorGeorge W. Bush

Rick Perry Preceded byDan Morales Succeeded byGreg Abbott Justice of the Texas Supreme Court In office
January 2, 1991 – October 18, 1997Preceded byFranklin Spears Succeeded byDeborah Hankinson Judge of the Texas 37th Judicial District Court In office
January 1, 1985 – January 1, 1991Preceded byRichard WoodsSucceeded byAnn-Marie AaronPersonal detailsBornJohn Cornyn III
(1952-02-02) February 2, 1952 (age 74)

Houston , Texas, U.S.

Party Republican Spouse

Sandy Hansen

​

(m. 1979)​

Children2EducationTrinity University (BA )
St. Mary's University (JD )
University of Virginia (LLM )WebsiteSenate website

Campaign website

Cornyn's voice

Duration: 2 minutes and 57 seconds.2:57

Cornyn on George Floyd and the naming of Juneteenth as a national holiday.
Recorded June 16, 2021.

Born in Houston , Cornyn is a graduate of Trinity University , St. Mary's University School of Law , and the University of Virginia School of Law . He was a judge on Texas's 37th District Court from 1985 to 1991, an associate justice of the Texas Supreme Court from 1991 to 1997, and Attorney General of Texas from 1999 to 2002. He was first elected to the U.S. Senate in . During his tenure, Cornyn chaired the National Republican Senatorial Committee from 2009 to 2013 and served as the Senate Republican whip from 2013 to 2019.

Cornyn has been described as an establishment Republican.

Although considered conservative by voting record, he has a reputation for bipartisan negotiation on gun legislation and immigration reform .

In 2022, he helped negotiate passage of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act , for which he was rebuked by the Republican Party of Texas .

Cornyn ran for reelection in . After narrowly coming in first place but not receiving more than 50% of the vote in the Republican primary, he faced Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in a runoff election. Cornyn lost renomination in the May runoff, receiving about 37% of the vote. Cornyn is the first incumbent Texas senator to lose renomination since .

Contents

• 1 Early life, education, and legal career

• 2 Texas attorney general

  • 2.1 1998 election

  • 2.2 Tenure

• 3 U.S. Senate

  • 3.1 Elections

    • 3.1.1 2002

    • 3.1.2 2008

    • 3.1.3 2014

    • 3.1.4 2020

    • 3.1.5 2026

  • 3.2 Tenure

  • 3.3 Senate Majority Whip

  • 3.4 2024 Senate Majority Leader election

  • 3.5 Committee assignments

  • 3.6 Caucus memberships

• 4 Political positions

  • 4.1 Abortion

  • 4.2 Animal welfare

  • 4.3 Civil rights and law enforcement

  • 4.4 President Donald Trump

  • 4.5 Foreign policy and national security

  • 4.6 Economy

  • 4.7 Environment

  • [4.

…